… Alyssa Healy has proved time and again she can deliver in the most high-pressure situations but her match-winning 170 against England elevated her to a whole new level

ALYSSA Healy still baulks at being labelled a ‘big-game player’, preferring instead to label her approach “brave”.

Yet, to her disappointment, her latest efforts with the bat provide irrefutable evidence that Healy is, in fact, a big-game player.

For a third consecutive tournament Healy stood tall in the biggest moments, producing an innings for the ages with her 170 from 138 balls against England at Hagley Oval..

It was her second successive century, following her 129 against the West Indies in the semi-final, as she powered her way to 509 runs for the tournament, having entered the knockout stage with 210 runs from her first seven innings.

Healy was the player-of-the-tournament when Australia claimed the 2018 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, following it up with a player-of-the-match display against India at the MCG in front of 86 174 people in the 2020 T20 World Cup decider.

On Sunday, she was crowned both the player-of-the-final and player-of-the-tournament.

“This trophy means a lot, and to be able to turn up at the back end and go alright in the last few games means a whole heap,” Healy reflected following Australia’s win

“I just think you’ve got to be brave to come out in a situation like that, to be able to play your game when you know that the opposition are going to come really hard at you.

“They want to take your wicket early and you’ve got to be brave and back your skills.

“Personally, I’m really proud of that. I still don’t think I’m a ‘big-game player’ … but I think you’ve just got to be brave to be able to do it.”

Healy set a new record for the highest score in a World Cup final, by a man or a woman, eclipsing Adam Gilchrist’s 149 against Sri Lanka in 2007.

She also passed Karen Rolton (107 n.o. against India in 2005) and Ricky Ponting (140 n.o. against India in 2003) but said she had not even been that aware of just how high into the stratosphere she was soaring during her innings

“I was just watching the ball and trying to hit it and trying to get our team to a really good total … so at no point did I think of (any records),” Healy said.

“I think Moons (Beth Mooney) at one point literally said to me, you could get 200 here, and that was probably the first time it even crossed my mind that I had that many runs.

“I guess one day when I retire and I reflect on my career, it’ll be a moment that I can remember and cherish that.

“I always looked up to Adam Gilchrist … Uncle Ian first, but then Adam Gilchrist, so to knock him off the pedestal – sorry about that – I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

Making victory even sweeter for Healy was the fact it was her first one-day World Cup final.

The wicketkeeper-batter was part of the squad that won the 2013 event but Healy was consigned to running drinks in the final, while the heartbreak of missing the 2017 final has been well documented.

“I messaged Pez (Ellyse Perry) this morning when I found out she was in the XI and I said, ‘I just want to be a part of it, I really want this, I want to be a part of it, I want to contribute to this win’, and to be able to do that was really special’,” Healy added.